Sleeping With The Television On
by Satine89
Summary: A new reciever, Moto Hanada, joins the Deimon Devil Bats after the Ojo game. While everyone else is pleased with his joining, Hiruma can't help but be suspicious of him... T for language and sexual themes.
1. Chapter 1

**Number One: She Asks Me Why**

It was a normal Wednesday afternoon. Yoichi Hiruma had pushed Sena Kobayakawa to his limit at team practice again; Ryokan Kurita beat his 40-meter dash record (6.1 seconds, baby!); and Mamori Anezaki cleaned up the football team's room. Yep, the Deimon Devil Bats were acting as normal as they usually did.

Sena was so exhausted that fell off of the bench on the sidelines of the football field. His camcorder fell from his hand, hitting the emerald grass softly. His black hair ruffled in the soft wind. Hiruma looked away from his black book and turned to Sena.

"You're such a klutz," Hiruma shrugged. "You have to run the 40-meter again today. You didn't do well earlier."

"Can I just go home?" Sena mumbled. Kurita began to do ladder exercises, not noticing Sena's pain.

"No," Hiruma answered bluntly, running his hand through his spiky blonde hair. "You can't just give up, you know. You're the Devil Bats' ticket to victory! So get out there and do something, damn pipsqueak!"

Mamori walked out of the football team's room, carrying an empty box to the trash bin. She had an irritated look on her pretty face, and Sena knew that she was getting angry, and was probably going to yell at Hiruma. She was the only one at Deimon High School gutsy enough to stand up to him. Everyone else had some nasty secret that Hiruma could reveal to the world. Mamori was pretty clean in that respect. Either that or Hiruma could care less. Sena tended to think it was the latter.

"HIRUMA!" Mamori yelled. "WHY DO YOU HAVE SO MANY EMPTY BOXES! IT'S POINTLESS!"

"You can never have too many empty boxes," Hiruma frowned, going back to his black book and ignoring Mamori. That book contained so much information about everyone at Deimon High School that it was mind-boggling. HOW Hiruma knew so much about everybody, no one could figure out.

Mamori crossed her arms haughtily. She hated Hiruma, and had since she first met him.

Mamori was jerked out of her anger by the presence of a teenaged boy walking towards her. She pulled a strand of auburn-red hair out of her face to get a better look at him. He had black hair that reached his neck and a slim figure. His blue eyes darted around nervously, as if he was afraid of something. Mamori smiled.

"Can I help you?" Mamori asked. "You look a bit lost."

"Is that the football team over there?" The boy pointed over to the field, where Sena was watching Kurita do some ladder drills.

"Yes, it is," Mamori nodded. "I'm Mamori Anezaki, part of the administrative team in charge of the Deimon Devil Bats."

"I'm Moto Hanada," the boy introduced himself. "I want to join the team, actually. I'm a first-year student. Where's Yoichi Hiruma?"

"He's…"

Mamori looked over. Hiruma had gotten mad at Kurita and was starting to kick him, spouting expletives and babble. Sena backed away slowly, trying to avoid Hiruma's gaze.

"…Over there, but he's getting ticked off. I wouldn't bug him now…"

"Whatever," Moto smiled, and he walked right towards the danger zone. Mamori tried to voice some dissent, but it was no use. This Moto kid was rather determined. Mamori said a small prayer of intervention before looking over to see that Moto had reached Hiruma.

She didn't hear much, but she saw Moto say something to the three of them. Sena shook his hand and presumably introduced himself. Hiruma stopped beating up on Kurita and got completely in Moto's face. Kurita tried to do something about that, but he didn't quite succeed. Moto got slightly flustered by Hiruma's attitude and mumbled something back. Kurita got very happy and threw Moto in the air (which wasn't so hard to do – Kurita was very strong). Moto grew extremely pale, and Hiruma kicked Kurita in the stomach to get him to stop throwing Moto. Sena jumped back and said something. Hiruma answered him very coldly before turning to a shaken Moto and asking him something.

Moto walked over to the bench that Sena had fallen off of moments ago and rustled through a box underneath the bench. Hiruma, Kurita, Sena, and Mamori watched Moto carefully as he pulled a football out of the box. He walked back over to Hiruma and gave him the ball, telling him something that Mamori couldn't hear. Moto took a few steps backward and watched as Hiruma threw the football – hard AND fast. Moto ran after it and caught it with one hand, amazingly subdued and spot-on. Moto threw the ball back at Hiruma, just as fast as Hiruma had thrown it. Hiruma caught it, smiling wickedly.

"You're pretty good at this," Hiruma yelled at Moto.

"Thanks," Moto yelled back. "I want to play with you guys! Can I?"

Kurita jumped up in the air happily before tackling Moto. Moto was nearly crushed. Mamori covered her mouth in shock.

"Kurita…" Sena protested before Kurita got up and grinned at the severely rattled Moto.

Mamori looked around before realizing that Hiruma had disappeared. She bit her tongue, wary of what might happen.

A giant explosion rattled the school. Moto looked positively frightened now. Mamori turned around to see that Hiruma had a rocket launcher on his shoulder. Of course, Hiruma had no idea how much commotion a rocket launcher would cause at a high school. (Hiruma had no idea how much commotion his persona caused, either. Oblivious freak.)

"Ya-ha--!" Hiruma cried. "New teammate!"

Mamori clenched her fists. "HIRUMA, THAT'S -!"

Mamori's cell phone began to ring. Her overcoat pocket began to vibrate with the steady beeping and electronic melody. Mamori stopped yelling and looked at the number. Moto was being tossed in the air again, but Mamori didn't see that.

"Hello?" Mamori greeted. A voice at the other end that sounded particularly girly giggled out a welcome. Mamori smiled.

"Ah, Umi-chan," Mamori smirked, "what's up? Why are you calling so late in the day?"

Hiruma went back into the football team room to put away the rocket launcher (where it went, only Hiruma knew). Mamori wasn't paying attention, because what Umi-chan was saying on the other line was near amazing.

Moto fell to the ground with a thud. Kurita had forgotten to catch him. Sena pulled Moto upward and began to tell him all about what typically happened at a normal football practice. Mamori saw Moto's face grow confused with each statement, but she was too mesmerized by what Umi-chan was telling her to care.

"Is it true?" Mamori asked incredulously. "That seems impossible!"

Umi-chan giggled again before becoming calmer and telling Mamori that it was just a rumor, but it seemed like every girl was taking it for fact. Mamori began to giggle.

"No way," Mamori grinned widely. "That… woah. Just…" Mamori's giggle became a full-blown laugh. Sena noticed how hard she was sniggering and walked over. Moto, who now looked as if the slightest thing would set him over the edge, followed. Kurita was celebrating the addition of another player, but hopped over anyway. Hiruma was still in the football team's room, probably yelling about how he couldn't find anything with the room so clean.

"I'll talk to you later…" Mamori laughed. "Yeah. Okay. Bye…"

Mamori hung up, but she was still laughing. Sena looked a bit lost.

"Mamori," Sena asked, "what's so funny?"

Mamori put her phone away. "My friend Umi-chan… she was telling me about this rumor that's going around…"

"Is it something embarrassing?" Moto asked. Mamori noticed that his voice was rather mellow. Moto looked kind of small for his age, and sometimes he sounded like he was about to go through puberty.

"Oh yeah," Mamori beamed. "Apparently there's this girl who… hah ha… oh my God… yeah, well there's apparently there's this girl who likes Hiruma!"

Silence…

…until Sena let out a stifled laugh. Moto smiled widely, looking away from Mamori. Kurita blinked.

"Why?" Kurita asked. "He doesn't seem like the type of person any girl would like…"

Moto still looked dumbstruck. "He doesn't appear to have any redeeming qualities… maybe his utter recklessness, but that's not really a redeeming quality… that's actually not even a good quality…" Moto began to ramble incoherently.

"Who?" Sena asked. Mamori stopped laughing for a few seconds.

"I have no idea," Mamori admitted. "That's what Umi-chan was saying. No one knows. There was apparently something carved into the door on one of the stalls in the girl's bathroom…" Mamori continued laughing. "But seriously… why? Why would anyone like Hiruma?"

"Kurita seems to like me fine."

Hiruma was back, apparently. Mamori jumped backwards. Moto's eyes shifted around before he ventured a question.

"How long have you been there?" Moto inquired, his face palling rapidly.

"Not very long," Hiruma admitted. "But really though… what was Mamori talking about? It sounded amusing enough…"

Hiruma was scary enough when he was yelling or giving orders, but Sena thought that when he was just talking like a normal person, he was creepier than humanly possible. Sena turned to Mamori, who seemed unperturbed. In fact, she was still laughing.

"My friend called me," Mamori said through giggles. "And she -!"

"Okay, so Mamori has a friend. Wow," Hiruma rolled his eyes. "Your cover-up SUCKS, damn manager."

"Don't call me that," Mamori frowned. "Apparently some girl likes you."

"I've never had a friend outside of football," Hiruma blurted out, rustling through the equipment box. "I'm sure as hell not gonna start now." It appeared that he really didn't care… or was more oblivious that previously thought.

"I think you're missing the point," Sena groaned, his head drooping.

"No," Moto said, "she means that there's a girl that REALLY likes you."

"Oh," Hiruma replied, not looking up as he dropped a stopwatch onto the bench. "That's good."

Kurita swallowed nervously before turning to Sena. "I don't think he cares."

"Neither do I," Sena shrugged, just as nervous as Kurita. Mamori was still giggling. Moto looked completely flabbergasted. (And why wouldn't he be? You have this giant, overly enthusiastic blocker; a rather violent, indifferent quarterback; a mousy, passive team manager; and a normal girl that really didn't belong there.)

"DAMN FATTY, GET OVER HERE!" Hiruma yelled. "YOU TOO, NEW GUY!" Hiruma stood on the sideline, waiting impatiently. "40-meter dash! COME ON!"

Moto, not knowing what else to do, ran over to where Hiruma stood.

A/N: I hope you guys like this story. In other sections of the site, I am known for my patently bizarre brand of fiction. (Just click on my penname to see just how weird I really am…) This has to be one of the weirder ones, trust me… it may seem normal now…

A/N 2: It may seem like I've only read up to Volume 2 of Eyeshield 21. I have read up to Volume 5, actually. The story only STARTS near Volume 2… see, I'm writing one of those progressive stories…

Disclaimer: I don't own Eyeshield 21. Whoever said they'd make the story focus less on Sena, I agree. I WOULD play up the Mamori/Sena pairing, however… (babbles on)


	2. Chapter 2

**Number Two: Where Was My Heart?**

Sena looked at the phone numbers in his cell phone as he walked home that day. There were only three people in there: Mamori, Kurita, and now Moto. Sena smiled. There were now three actual players on the team, too.

Actually, there was four, counting Sena. To everyone except for Hiruma and Kurita, Sena was just the team manager and all-purpose gopher. But Sena was also the team's secret weapon, Eyeshield 21, so named because of his uniform number and because of the tinted eye shield that kept his identity a secret.

Sena didn't like keeping that secret from Mamori. He had known Mamori since grade school, and the two of them kept virtually no secrets from each other. Sena considered Mamori to be his closest friend. Kurita was a good friend, and Moto would probably become a good friend too. Hiruma… well… if it were up to Sena, he'd avoid him at all costs. But Hiruma pretty much ran the show… unfortunately…

Sena began to walk to the corner, where he usually met Mamori after school to walk home. But as he neared the corner, he saw a tiny little girl with shoulder-length black hair, wispy bangs, and a red headband in her hair. She was trying to get a Coke out of the soda machine, but the machine appeared to be jamming.

"Come on!" she yelled, kicking the machine. "I gave you five hundred frickin' yen already! Give me a damn Coke!"

Sena avoided the scene. He had seen this girl before, while passing the Tea Ceremony room. Normally, she appeared very calm and relaxed when practicing her art. She must have had a bad day.

Sena walked past the girl (who was now kicking the machine) and to the corner, where he saw Mamori waiting for him. The two began to walk to their houses.

"Hiruma seemed rather restrained today," Mamori sighed. "Same attitude, but a bit subdued."

"Yeah," Sena agreed. "Maybe Moto had something to do with it."

"Maybe," Mamori repeated. The two of them used to never run out of things to talk about. But ever since Mamori and Sena got involved in football, they were so tired by the time they got home that they didn't feel like talking. The rhythmic clacking sound echoing from Mamori's Mary Janes and Sena's sneakers was all that could be heard as they walked down the street.

Mamori smiled. "Did you see Kiyoko trying to get that soda out of the machine?"

"Oh, her name is Kiyoko?" Sena blinked. "Yeah, I saw that. Isn't she a quiet person, though? Why was she so mad?"

"Usually she's quiet," Mamori explained. "Today she lost her book bag, failed her PE test, and forgot to bring something for the Tea Ceremony lunch meeting. She's really mad."

"How do you know all that?" Sena asked.

Mamori smirked. "Kiyoko is one of Umi-chan's best friends. She was in a really bad mood when I saw her with Umi-chan."

Sena nodded, and the two of them turned with a right curve in the road. A plastic bag flew through the air, and a street lamp began to flicker, confused by the sunset's alternating light and darkness.

Mamori turned to her house, waved goodbye to Sena, and went inside. She dropped her book bag on the floor and walked into her room. Shutting the door behind her, she took a look at the pictures on her desk. Her and her girl friends, her and Sena, her parents…

"I hate keeping secrets from him," Mamori whispered as she looked at Sena's picture. "But he wouldn't know what to do if I told him…"

Kurita put the all-purpose equipment box on the ground in the football team's room. Hiruma pulled a football tournament bracket off of the wall and crumpled it into a ball, tossing it in a trashcan near the television. He frowned, putting a safety latch on a pistol in the corner of the room.

"Moto seems like a good person," Kurita mused as he hung up his uniform. Hiruma tested the blinds.

"Wow, the blinds work," Hiruma muttered before replying to Kurita. "Yeah, he seems like a nice enough guy. Good player, too." Hiruma went silent again, playing with the blinds. Up and down. Up and down. Up and -…

"Why are you doing that?" Kurita asked.

"It's kind of fun," Hiruma shrugged. He became quiet again. Kurita began to make some tea.

"You're awfully quiet today," Kurita observed. "What's up with you?"

"It seems like Moto's hiding something," Hiruma admitted. "He was constantly shifting around, like he wanted to say something… and real fidgety…"

"Maybe he's frightened," Kurita offered, smiling. Steam was beginning to rise from his teakettle. Kurita took the lid off of his teapot and turned off the oven to cool the water down slightly. "I'm sure that Moto's not used to people shooting off rocket launchers at school."

"I think it went beyond that," Hiruma frowned, opening the blinds again.

"Do you want some tea?"

"I'll pass." Hiruma looked out of the window. A thin girl was beating the crap out of a Coke machine, yelling just about every curse word in the book and getting more ticked by the minute. Kurita took his tea and dumped a few dozen sugar cubes into it. Hiruma stared at the stubborn Coke machine, then at the flustered girl. She wasn't yelling anymore, but she looked really mad. A small smile spread across Hiruma's face before he burst out laughing.

"What's so funny?" Kurita asked.

"Remember yesterday when we needed a gear for our tackle dummy and I took it from the soda machine?" Hiruma grinned wickedly.

"You… huh?" Kurita asked. "Why'd you take it from the soda machine?"

"So I could watch people get pissed off when their soda won't come out," Hiruma answered indifferently. He watched as the girl kicked the machine again for good measure. Nothing happened.

"They'll figure it out eventually," Hiruma shrugged before grabbing a water bottle off of the table and drinking from it.

Kurita took a sip of tea. "How'd you get it out of the soda machine?"

"Damn, this is funny," Hiruma commented, ignoring Kurita's question. He took another swig of his water bottle.

A/N: I waited a bit to do this next chapter. I wanted to make sure people would actually read the story… (sweat drop) I have no self-esteem…

A/N 2: I'm gonna sound like an idiot, I know it –

Hiruma: A little late for that.

Sena: (embarrassed by Hiruma's bluntness) Keep going…

Okay… what does WAFF mean? I see it a lot, and I feel like a dork not knowing what it is. Something to do with romantic stories, I know…

DISCLAIMER: I don't own Eyeshield 21. Does ANYONE on FFN actually OWN what they write about? Rhetorical question, don't answer that.


	3. Chapter 3

Number Three: Why Should I Care?

The next day at Deimon High School, Kurita and Moto got to the football field especially early so that they could practice. Moto was a shrimpy thing, so he was working with the tackle dummy (containing the stolen gear). Kurita was working on some ladder exercises when Mamori appeared from the left-hand corner of the field. She was carrying a painted streetlamp. Moto stopped feebly tackling the dummy and stared at the streetlamp.

"What's with that?" Moto asked.

"School project," Mamori responded, walking away from the field and up the staircase to the eastern entrance of Deimon High. Moto and Kurita went back to their work when they saw Hiruma wandering around aimlessly, scribbling something down in his black book and muttering to himself.

"Hmm… it would appear that Tenchi Hayate and Ryoko Masaki are secretly dating, as evidenced by the two of them making out on the third floor by the guy's bathroom…" he murmured, writing furiously. "And Reiko Kazaki, the Table Tennis co-captain, stole that sink from the girl's bathroom on floor two… who the hell steals a sink…?"

"In a better mood today, Hiruma?" Kurita asked. Moto tried to tackle the dummy again, but he tripped over the shoelaces on his cleats and did a face-plant. Hiruma looked up to see Kurita standing there, waiting for an answer, and Moto tying his shoe, muttering something about 'being an idiot'. Hiruma slammed his book shut and stuck his pen in his uniform pocket. He grinned, which was never a good sign.

"That depends," Hiruma answered cryptically before looking at Moto, covered in dirt. "What the hell is wrong with you?"

Moto looked up before glancing at his uniform. He laughed nervously. "I fell."

"Well, obviously," Hiruma snapped. "Where's Sena? And Mamori?"

"Mamori's taking a streetlamp up to school," Kurita told him. Hiruma blinked before shaking it off. He opened up his black book again.

"Mamori Anezaki… stole a streetlamp… God, what is up with stealing retarded objects today?" Hiruma asked himself as he put his book away again. Moto opened his mouth to say something, but thought better of it.

But Hiruma got in his face anyway.

"Did you want to say something?" Hiruma asked. Moto began to give that embarrassed laugh again.

"Uh… it was cardboard," Moto corrected, rubbing the side of his neck. Hiruma watched Moto massage his neck, then looked into Moto's eyes. Something about Hiruma's features changed, and Moto saw it. Moto bit his lip as Hiruma pulled out his book again.

"It seems like I've been doing nothing but write today," Hiruma muttered angrily to himself, turning away from Moto. "Why can't people think of better things to do, dammit…?"

Kurita was about to point out that not many people write down what other people do with their lives, but a dull thud echoed from the other side of the field. Cerberus, Hiruma's dog and partner in crime, had chased Sena across campus and caused him to run smack into the side of the football team's room.

"Where is Moto? He was here this morning…" Kurita wondered later that day. Inside the now spotless team room, Hiruma, Sena, and Kurita were sitting around, waiting for Mamori and Moto to show.

Hiruma snapped the barrel off of a starter pistol, inspecting the device. "Maybe Moto and Mamori are together."

"Huh?" Sena asked (rather brilliantly, I might add).

"You heard me," Hiruma replied bluntly. "Think about it. They're both late to practice and we don't know why…" A malevolent grin spread across Hiruma's face. "I get the feeling that THEY have NO IDEA what time it is…"

The color drained from Sena's face, and he turned away from Hiruma quickly. Hiruma shook the barrel rather violently, trying to get something out of it.

"Hey, don't blame yourself," Hiruma shrugged. "Mamori needs someone who can give her what she wants."

"Huh?" Sena asked, and this time he turned blood red.

"Oh come on, do you think I'm completely ignorant?" Hiruma spat, watching a rock fall out of the barrel. He got a look at Sena's face before retorting, "Don't answer that."

Kurita put down his teacup. "Actually, the girls are taking their physical exams today. Don't the guys do theirs tomorrow?"

Sena looked at Kurita as Hiruma snapped the barrel back into the starter pistol and fired a shot into the air. The ensuing bang knocked Sena out of his seat and made half of Kurita's tea spill onto the table.

"Yep, it works," Hiruma muttered before throwing it in the corner. It discharged, making everyone duck under the table for cover. Sena looked over at the corner of the room, where the barrel of the starter pistol was still smoking.

"Nice one," Sena mumbled to Hiruma.

"Shut up, pipsqueak," Hiruma spat back before turning to Kurita. "You said that the girls were getting their exams today?"

"Yeah, that's what it said in the school paper," Kurita nodded. Sena glared at Hiruma, positive that he wasn't looking in his direction. "Do you ever read what you sabotage?"

"No," Hiruma replied truthfully before jumping back into his seat. "So if it was the girls' examination day, why is Moto gone?"

Sena checked his cell phone as he got out from under the table. A text message had been left for Sena from Moto. Sena opened it up.

"He sent me a text message," Sena said offhandedly. Kurita looked over Sena's shoulder, while Hiruma pushed Sena's head slightly left to get a better look.

"It's from earlier today… before classes let out," Hiruma said.

"Sena – I won't be going to practice today. I think that I might be ill. I'm going home. Moto," Kurita read. All three of them sighed.

"Great, he's sick," Hiruma gritted his teeth in irritation. "I knew something was wrong with him."

"I hope it's not anything serious," Kurita frowned. He looked sad.

Sena reread the message. He had seemed okay earlier… maybe it was some passing bug. Sena put his phone back in his pocket.

"So how long is Mamori going to be up there?" Sena asked Kurita.

"I don't know," Kurita answered truthfully.

"Why do you care?" Hiruma asked, secretly pulling out his little black book. Sena flushed and muttered something unintelligible. Hiruma grinned, scribbling something down in the book. He threw it by the starter pistol, which discharged again.

"Hiruma, I think it's broken," Kurita observed.

"No shit!" Hiruma yelled, grabbing his book back and stuffing it in his uniform pocket. "Now I know why I stuck a rock in there in the first place…"

A/N: Ah yes, a gun that Hiruma couldn't fix. I love that idea.

A/N 2: I like all of the positive response to this. I was afraid someone would think it was weird. But isn't weirdness funny? So thanks for reviewing. I love you all.

DISCLAIMER: I don't own Eyeshield 21. Well, duh. If I owned it… heh… I'd own Hiruma… heheheh… (looks around) What are YOU staring at, punk?


	4. Chapter 4

Number Four: Scary Conversation, Shut My Eyes, Can't Find the Brake

Moto showed up the next day, still rubbing his neck oddly, but otherwise saying that he was fine. He said that he had gotten food poisoning, but Hiruma was still suspicious.

Hiruma wasn't about to say anything in front of anyone, though. That wasn't how he did things. If there was anything glaringly wrong, he tended to find out about it and then torture the person until they admitted it themselves. It was more fun that way.

Mamori stood in a corner of the weight room, watching Sena try to attempt 15 kg on the bench press. She usually made sure that no one killed themselves in the weight room (technically that was Hiruma's job as captain, but Hiruma came close to killing people every day…). Kurita was bench-pressing about 265 kg. Hiruma was doing push-ups near Sena, so he could yell at him at leisure. Moto was working with the rowing machine, and seemed to be in a bit of pain. He would continually stop to readjust his shirt or to work out a kink in his neck.

Hiruma glanced upon Moto when he was doing that once. He frowned and went back to yelling at Sena.

Mamori yelled at Hiruma to stop yelling at Sena before an electronic beep went off in her pocket. She looked at the blue stopwatch she had pulled out and pressed the large stop button.

"Time to pack it up, guys," Mamori told them. "We've been in here an hour. It's almost time for school."

Kurita, Moto, and Sena looked glad to get out of there. However, when they were leaving, Hiruma grabbed the back of Moto's shirt.

"I need to talk to you," Hiruma demanded brazenly, pulling him away.

Sena and Kurita, not wanting to get in the middle of one of Hiruma's torture sessions, gulped and left hurriedly. Hiruma waited for Kurita to walk out of the room before closing the door with a click. He proceeded to swoop down on Moto. Hiruma's glare was enough to send Moto over the edge.

"You know, if you had told me about this, I wouldn't have let you join the team in the first place," Hiruma snapped, startling Moto. He began to sweat.

"I don't know what you're talking about, Hiruma…" Moto stammered. Hiruma rolled his eyes and stuck his hand up the back of Moto's shirt, grabbing onto a strap that ran across the upper half of Moto's body. Moto looked at Hiruma uneasily, his face turning red.

"This. I'm talking about THIS," Hiruma stated rather indifferently, letting go of the strap harshly. Moto looked absolutely flustered.

"Well," Moto hesitated, "I'm sorry, but -?"

"Sorry?" Hiruma repeated, seemingly taken aback. "If your neck is out of whack, it's not your fault. But you won't be of much use to us if you have to leave because of it. I assume that the whole food poisoning thing was a lie?"

"Yeah," Moto nodded. "I…"

"Was getting a neck brace, I'm not an idiot," Hiruma finished for him. "So how long are you gonna have to wear it?"

"A while."

Moto didn't say anything for a long time, evidently embarrassed.

"Why are you just standing there?" Hiruma eventually asked.

"I didn't want to be a burden like this," Moto finally spat out, almost at a loss for words. "I want to play… but…"

Hiruma blinked before turning on his heel and walking out the door. "Just sort it out before tomorrow, all right?"

Hiruma walked out of the weight room before frowning, turning right and walking across the staff parking lot towards his homeroom.

"Damn it all… why me…?"

"Kiyoko, you look a bit… flustered," Umi-chan noted. Kiyoko snapped, looking back at Umi-chan and Mamori. They both looked confused by Kiyoko's behavior.

"Oh, it's nothing," Kiyoko told them. "Tea Ceremony is going to have a presentation this weekend. I'm nervous…"

Umi-chan sighed happily. "Oh, good. I'm glad. It's weird to see you so shaken."

Mamori grinned as well. "We'll definitely go."

Kiyoko tightened the green ribbon that adorned her short black hair. She fingered it gently before going back to her food.

"How's Sena, Mamori?" Kiyoko asked. Mamori seemed startled by the sudden question, but she smiled.

"He's doing good," Mamori told her, going a shade of pink. "I think that he enjoys the football team."

"Even with Hiruma on the team…?" Umi-chan asked warily.

"I think that Sena's gotten used to it," Mamori sighed. She waved the question away. Kiyoko smiled.

"Did anyone figure out who likes Hiruma yet?" Kiyoko inquired calmly. Umi-chan began to giggle, while Mamori shook her head.

"That girl is good at keeping her privacy, whoever it is," Mamori admitted.

"Well, wouldn't you keep that a secret if you liked him?" Umi-chan protested. Kiyoko and Mamori nodded emphatically.

"But I still don't understand WHY anyone would like him," Mamori wondered aloud. "He has no good qualities. He's a psycho…"

"They do say love is blind," Kiyoko offered. "Maybe the girl is a little love-struck and can't think straight."

"Or maybe she's mental," Mamori mused. "That would make sense."

"She could be a bit rebellious," Umi-chan suggested. "You know, wanting to break the yoke of parental expectation or something."

"I have no idea what you just said," Kiyoko admitted monotonously.

The bell rang. Kiyoko picked up her lunchbox and rewrapped it.

"I should get back to class," Kiyoko nodded. "The food was delicious, Mamori."

"Thanks," Mamori cooed. "Don't be late!"

Kiyoko exited classroom 2-3 and made her way down the stairs as a few boys made their way up. She put the lunchbox into her backpack and encountered a soda machine. She frowned, pulled a dollar out of her uniform pocket, and shoved it into the machine. She waited, and soon enough, she heard a mechanical click. The soda popped out the other end.

Kiyoko, glad that this machine wasn't nearly as broken-down as the one by the football field, took a deep drink of the Coke and walked down to her homeroom, 1-1.

A/N: Well, er… the story isn't quite over, actually. It's seven chapters long. We're on four. Just wanted to clear that up.

A/N 2: Am I the only one angry about the fact that Gorillaz's (far superior) single Feel Good Inc. lost Record of the Year at the Grammys to Boulevard of Broken Dreams (shutter)? I can't STAND BoBD. I would have been fine with Vertigo, or Hollaback Girl, but BoBD is the single most overly-hyped, overplayed piece of tripe ever. (Sorry if I offended anyone, but if there's one thing I can't STAND, it's politics interfering with art. Really.)

DISCLAIMER: I don't own Eyeshield 21. Or a coke machine, now that you mention it…


	5. Chapter 5

Number Five: It's Kind of Crazy, But It's Nice

"Damn…" Hiruma sighed, slamming his coke can onto the table. "Where is Moto!"

Hiruma, in his mind's eye, had known that this would happen. He had called Moto's bluff, and now all Moto could do was quit…

Actually, Kurita hadn't shown up, and Mamori was still at a meeting for the Disciplinary Committee. So Moto wasn't even that late. Sena was testing camera batteries with a plug-in charger by the west wall, making sure that they would be operational for the next game. Hiruma ignored him, choosing to mutter to himself.

Sena unlatched his fifteenth battery before frowning. "Do you think that… Mamori and Moto… are…? You would know, you know everything there is to know about everyone…"

Hiruma looked up, startled. He really hadn't expected that reaction from Sena. Earlier he was just pushing Sena's buttons for fun, but now it seemed that Sena was serious.

Hiruma unruffled the morning paper, beginning to read the Sports section. "Don't worry about it, Sena. I was just kidding earlier. Those two are NOT together, trust me."

Sena smiled, and went back to checking batteries. However, he seemed more enthusiastic than before. Hiruma glanced over the newspaper and briefly contemplated taking out his black book. He thought better of it and did nothing.

Mamori slammed the door open, followed by Kurita, and then Moto, who looked agitated.

"Someone stole a sink from the girl's bathroom!" Mamori yelled randomly. "I mean, seriously! Why would anyone WANT a sink!"

Hiruma grinned from behind the cover of his newspaper and propped his legs up against the table.

Kurita had brought boxes of donuts and placed them on the table. "I stopped by the donut shop on the way here…" He smiled as he opened up a package. "I didn't know what everyone liked, so I just got a box of everything…"

"I have to tell you guys something," Moto cried out amidst the noise that accompanied the frantic donut snatching. Everybody stopped what they were doing and froze. Hiruma blinked, and folded up the newspaper.

"Okay, what?" he asked point-blank.

"I'm gonna have to quit the football team," Moto announced, clenching his fists to try and dispel his sadness.

Kurita dropped his donuts on the floor and began to sob. "W-Why?"

"There's a medical reason…" Moto stammered out, looking away from everyone's knowing glances.

Mamori covered her mouth and her eyes widened. "It's not serious, is it?"

"If it wasn't serious, he wouldn't be quitting, dammit," Hiruma barked at Mamori before turning to the rest of them. "Severe neck injuries, actually. He told me yesterday."

"I lied about that," Moto admitted blankly. Hiruma's frown grew more pronounced, but Sena noticed a faint smile playing across his face.

"So what is it, then?" Hiruma asked. "That brace had to have been for something."

"It is," Moto nodded. "I –"

"Shoulders?" Hiruma offered.

"No…" Moto answered. "It's not really a brace, actually –"

Hiruma was clearly enjoying himself. Sena sighed. If Hiruma just let Moto spit it out, maybe they wouldn't have to deal with the suspense.

Kurita sniffled.

"Spine?"

"Will you let me finish? It's for -!"

"You're confusing," Hiruma told Moto. "Why aren't you telling me?"

"I'm trying!" Moto blurted out. His voice was growing higher. Mamori inhaled slowly.

"No…" she whispered before looking to the floor. "No, no, this can't be true…"

"Are you delusional?" Hiruma wondered aloud. "That would explain the pointless brace on your back…"

"It's not a brace, it isn't pointless, and I'm not delusional!" Moto yelled back at Hiruma. His voice was now bordering on girlishly high. Moto unbuttoned a few buttons on his shirt. Hiruma blinked. Now he was actually confused.

"Since you won't let me tell you, I guess I'll just have to show you…" Moto sighed, turning a shade of red. He unbuttoned one more button before pulling his shirt open to reveal a bra.

"I'M A WOMAN, YOU DAMN IDIOT!" she yelled in her normal voice.

Mamori stepped backward. "Kiyoko!"

"Kiyoko!" Sena repeated, looking at Mamori confusedly. Kurita looked away, embarrassed.

Hiruma blinked before he felt a drop of blood run down his nose.

"I'll be right back!" he yelled before running into the bathroom and slamming the door behind him. Actually, Hiruma's words were extremely slurred together and he looked shocked and flustered. (No one could blame him, for once.) Mamori watched the bathroom door slam before turning back to Kiyoko, who had turned to face the front door and appeared to be buttoning her shirt back up.

"I can't believe I just flashed you guys…" Kiyoko murmured in an airy, embarrassed tone before wheeling around on her heel. "Sorry about that. HE wasn't going to let me say a word…"

Kiyoko cleared her throat. Kurita turned around, looking at the ceiling. Sena was interested in what Kiyoko had to say. Mamori was going into calm, negotiator mode.

"Kiyoko," Mamori began, "why did you do this…?"

Kiyoko inhaled slowly. "I have to calm down…" Kiyoko collected herself, and Sena blinked. She had gone from hysterics to being her usual, calm self in no less than a few seconds. Kiyoko was still red from her little escapade, though.

It was probably a good thing that Mamori knew Kiyoko, otherwise Mamori would have gotten Kiyoko in serious trouble with the Disciplinary Committee for that, Sena reasoned.

"I have three older brothers," Kiyoko explained, showing the others three fingers on her right hand. "They all played football in high school… the oldest, Kage, played at Zokugaku. The middle brother, Enmaru, played at Zokugaku for a year before we moved and he ended up at Shinryugi. After he finished high school, we moved again and the youngest brother, Ako, played at Ojo. There's a four-year gap between him and me, so I was only in eighth grade when he finished school. Our family moved here when I was in ninth grade… we're army brats."

"Oh, okay," Kurita smiled. He had gotten over the shock of it all.

"But why did you disguise yourself as a guy to -?" Sena began to ask. He hadn't gotten over the shock of it all. And, judging by the running water from the faucet in the bathroom, Hiruma hadn't, either.

Or maybe Hiruma was just a pervert. Yeah, maybe…

"I'm getting there," Kiyoko assured him. "Don't worry. Since all my brothers played football, I wanted to play just like they did… but there's no girls' team. There probably won't be – ever. So I talked it over with my family, and we decided that this might be the best way… I realize now that it wasn't even worth it."

Kiyoko bowed to the three of them. "It was a really bad idea. I'm sorry… _gomen nasai_…"

Kiyoko looked up, and Sena saw that a tear was catching in her eyelashes. She whipped around quickly, rubbing it away from her eyes. Mamori walked over to Kiyoko and put a hand on her shoulder.

A thought struck Sena.

"So… what was that brace that Hiruma was talking about?" Sena asked. Kiyoko furrowed her brow before an angry scowl formed on her face. She waved Mamori's hand away as she spoke.

"I'll put it this way…" Kiyoko said, her voice shaking and her face turned a delicate shade of pink. "He either knew I was a girl the entire time or he's a complete idiot."

Sena didn't understand, but Mamori did. She shuttered before sighing.

"I think it was the latter," Mamori murmured before the bathroom door slammed open. Hiruma did NOT look happy, that was for sure.

"Alright," Hiruma yelled angrily, "what the hell was THAT for, you crazy bitch!"

Kiyoko took a deep breath again, recollecting her calm. "You, in your own deluded cockiness, wouldn't listen to a word I said, so I figured the only way to get you to realize it was to show you…" Kiyoko shot a withering glance at Hiruma. "I'm not happy about it either. Do I have to retell my entire story, or, as I suspect, were you listening in on the whole thing and just left the water running to fool me?"

Hiruma glared at Kiyoko. "You're pretty good for a snot-nosed freshman." Hiruma grabbed the paper off the table and opened it up again, reading. "And… by the way… it WAS the former, but I had to prove a point… I'm not happy about it either."

Kiyoko turned a furious shade of red and looked ready to explode before she bit her lip and regained her composure.

"I suppose this is goodbye…" Kiyoko said. "And I just want you guys to know that… well… I really did want to play. And I did enjoy it. But this was all a huge mistake…"

Kiyoko walked out of the team building and closed the door behind her. Mamori's shoulders sank downward, and she looked at the ground.

"Now we need a receiver again," Kurita frowned.

"Yes, since our original receiver was a psychotic cross-dresser," Hiruma blithely observed, flipping to another page of the paper. "Isn't she in Tea Ceremony, too…?"

Mamori narrowed her eyes. "I'm not going to let you-!"

"Let me what?" Hiruma interrupted with a smile. "I was just asking. That explains why she was almost perpetually late. She had two clubs to attend to… and then there were the health exams…"

Kurita picked up a donut and began to eat it. "Hey, I think I've seen her brother play… at Ojo, I mean. Her family name is Yasukah, right? They're all pretty good at football."

"Kiyoko Yasukah, Homeroom 1-3, Tea Ceremony, Second Grand Mistress, usually reserved and calm, army brat, got suspended and nearly expelled in ninth grade for an outburst involving a flamethrower…" Hiruma read out of his black book. He began to scribble something in it. "Once disguised herself as a man to join the football team to continue family legacy…"

"You better not go after her!" Mamori cried. Sena blinked.

"Oh, Kiyoko," Sena remembered something. "Yeah, she almost destroyed the coke machine the other day. She was trying to get a soda out of it…"

Hiruma glimpsed at Sena with a knowing grin. Sena took a frightened step backward.

"Oh, I know all about that," Hiruma nodded cryptically, closing his black book.

A/N: Since nobody berated me about my whole Green Day bashing thing, I'm kind of relieved. People are more concerned with the story. That's good to know. I just really wanted to vent that on someone who hadn't heard it a billion times (sorry, Wanda, and I apologize for the Cribs incident as well…).

DISCLAIMER: I don't own Eyeshield 21. Woo.


	6. Chapter 6

Number Six: Cessa Crudel, Tanto Rigor

_Two months later_

"DAMN PIPSQUEAK! YOU CAN RUN FASTER THAN THAT!"

Mamori sighed. You could hear Hiruma from halfway across campus, in the renovated football club room/casino. Mamori swept up some dust from under the change counter when a small bell rang.

Mamori looked up. "Oh, Monta, you're back with the –" Mamori gasped. "I thought you told Umi-chan and me you'd never come back here… Kiyoko."

Kiyoko looked just as calm as ever as she readjusted her blue headband. Her blue eyes glittered in the early morning sun. Her hair was a bit longer, but otherwise she looked the same as she had two months before.

"Well, I've needed to talk to you alone, but you're always surrounded by people," Kiyoko confessed. "I wanted to ask you a few things, actually…"

Kiyoko sat at a chair by one of the slot machines. "I see you here all the time… you're a manager, right? So girls can join up, right?"

Mamori stopped sweeping up dust. She put the broom in the corner and sat down next to Kiyoko. "Why do you ask?"

"I really want to be here," Kiyoko smiled. "I loved being here with all you guys… so I want to just help out somehow… but that brings me to my other question… sort of…"

Kiyoko turned a bright red before trying to regain her tranquility. She began to wring her hands together nervously.

"You can keep a secret, right, Mamori?" Kiyoko asked. Mamori nodded emphatically.

"Do you like someone!" Mamori asked giddily. (Yes, that is a word.) Kiyoko jumped about five feet out of her chair.

"Uh… yeah…" Kiyoko stammered. Mamori snapped her fingers.

"You like Kurita, don't you?" Mamori guessed. "You two would be so cute together!"

Kiyoko sweat-dropped. "Not really… you have to promise that you won't breathe a word of this to Umi-chan – or anyone else, actually…"

"Why?" Mamori inquired. "Isn't Umi-chan your best friend?"

"She's also the most talkative person in second year," Kiyoko pointed out. "She'd tell everyone."

Mamori nodded. "I suppose… Is it one of the new players? Like Monta? Or one of those Ha Brothers?"

Kiyoko nodded her head. "No… it's…"

Hiruma slammed the door open. He glanced around. "Where the hell is our spare football… what are YOU doing here, Kiyoko?"

"I was looking for Sena," Kiyoko answered coolly, putting a hand on her hip. "I wanted to help out with management. I think he might be… how do I put it… overworked. But I don't know why. I mean, managers should get used to rapid machine gun fire, right?"

Hiruma frowned. "I have no idea where he is. He left after Eyeshield showed up. I think that Eyeshield might have beaten him up at one point. I dunno."

Mamori became mad and gritted her teeth secretively.

"If it's THAT important to you, I'll go find him," Hiruma sighed. "Actually, I just sent him to go buy a football."

Hiruma left, smashing the door closed behind him.

"Can't he just close the door like a normal human being?" Mamori wondered. "Okay, so what were you saying, Kiyoko?"

Kiyoko's eye was twitching slightly. "Well… you see… I'm in love with someone I shouldn't like…"

"Don't tell me you like Uten from Tea Ceremony!" Mamori frowned. "He's such a pervert-!"

"I'm in love with Yoichi."

Mamori nodded. "Oh, Hiruma. I guess that's – WHAT?"

Kiyoko looked at her Mary Janes and gulped. "Yeah… I don't know why…" Kiyoko gave Mamori a weak smile. "Last year, I got suspended from my middle school. It's a long story, but I was sitting on the fence by the high school, and I saw him practicing. I don't know… but something… something clicked… and…"

Kiyoko was a deep shade of crimson. "I know that you like Sena, Mamori… you're so protective of him… but… I… well, you see why I don't tell Umi-chan, right?"

"Did you get suspended because you used a flamethrower?" Mamori asked randomly. (Even though Kiyoko's conversation had become extremely random, it was still a weird question.) Kiyoko fell out of her chair.

"How do you know that?" Kiyoko asked frantically.

"I remember reading something about it at the time," Mamori lied. She allowed her mind to process what she had just learned.

"But why do you like HIM…?" Mamori asked, still in slight shock. "You don't seem at all like that kind of person…" Kiyoko swallowed apprehensively. She redid her ribbon again.

"I… I can't even begin to understand why," Kiyoko told Mamori truthfully. "And… actually… I think it's because of football that I love him. When I was watching him… he's a great player… I got kind of wrapped up in it… I had been sitting on that fence for an hour without even realizing it. And then I fell off of the fence in shock, skidded my knee, and dropped half of my purchases from Son-Son…" Kiyoko shook her head, as if she wanted to rid herself of the memory. "Maybe that or just the sheer amount of drive he has. I don't know."

"Drive?" Mamori repeated, smiling uneasily.

"Determination, guts, that kind of thing," Kiyoko explained. "What did you think I meant, sex drive or something –!"

Hiruma slammed the door open again. "You're still here?"

Kiyoko frowned, and stopped messing with the edge of her skirt. "I'm still waiting to talk to Sena."

Hiruma kicked Sena inside the room before turning on his heel and slamming the door closed behind him.

"What is with him and slamming the door?" Kiyoko asked herself. Sena shrugged. The two of them began to discuss Kiyoko's proposal, and Mamori stared blankly at a wall.

Kiyoko didn't seem like the type of person to fall for Hiruma at all. She was calm, graceful, and (accidentally) unfeeling. Mamori, in knowing Kiyoko, had only seen her mad twice, and the circumstances behind her anger at those two times were not at all normal. Kiyoko had lived a fairly ordinary life and had enjoyed every minute of it… Hiruma was brash, blunt, intentionally unfeeling, deviant, and a vicious all-or-nothing extortionist extraordinaire. His life was a mystery, and Mamori could think of maybe one time she hadn't seen him angry. And it was hard to discern emotion with Hiruma anyway…

…No connection. Mamori sighed.

"I hope she knows what she's doing," Mamori whispered.

A/N: You probably thought that the story was over last chapter. NO! It's still going. Like I said in an earlier chapter, it's eight chapters long.

A/N 2: To my observant readers, I would like to say that yes, the titles of every chapter – and the title of the story as well – are pieces of songs. I like to play games with my readers, so to those who guess what songs I used, I will… er… it's very hard to award prizes online… I'll think of something!

My friend once gave away 'Tic-Tacs'. Maybe I should give away Pop Tarts.

YES! IF YOU GUESS, I WILL GIVE YOU A 'POP-TART'!

DISCLAIMER: Ah, you know the drill, I don't own Eyeshield 21, but Kiyoko is my character, in case you haven't figured it out, dullard…


	7. Chapter 7

Number Seven: Windmill, Windmill…

Kiyoko Yasukah became part of the management team later that day. She calmly told the new members of the team who she was – leaving out her escapades as a man earlier in the year, however. Mamori didn't blame her.

Kiyoko was one of those people who would work hard no matter what. It didn't matter what the task was – Kiyoko would do it to the best of her ability. No one (save Hiruma) had anything bad to say about her. In fact, the three Ha Brothers (Shozo Togano, Koji Kuroki, and Kazuki Juumonji, who weren't brothers at all, but Hiruma's nickname had stuck) seemed especially taken by Kiyoko and offered to help her out often, only to be soundly and softly rejected.

"How can anyone look so graceful while declining someone?" Montaro Rai – or, as he had been called erroneously on many an occasion, Monta (that nickname had stuck, too) – asked Sena one day after she had told the Ha Brothers that she could clean up the casino by herself, thanks. Sena shrugged.

"I don't really know," Sena said. "She's in Tea Ceremony, and they say she's one of the most gifted in there."

"How can pouring tea could be considered a gift?" Monta asked. Sena shook his head.

"I don't know."

Kurita and his new apprentice, Daikichi Komusubi, were practicing with the tackle dummies. Another new kid, the scrawny, bald Manabu Yukimitsu, was working on the dash while Mamori timed. Hiruma was yelling at Kiyoko for working so slowly, and then told the Ha Brothers about some photos. They got back to running with Mamori.

Night slowly fell. Kiyoko diligently continued to sort through the videotapes of football games in the casino as she watched everyone leave, one by one. She wasn't surprised to hear a door slam behind her as she put a tape of the Koigahama-Deimon game underneath a taped episode of Sports-A-Go-Go.

"Do you live here?" Kiyoko asked. "It's rather late."

"What about you?" Hiruma snapped back.

"If I didn't finish, someone would shoot me in the head," Kiyoko explained, sarcasm dripping from her voice. Hiruma rolled his eyes.

"I think I liked it better when you were a man," Hiruma frowned before he began to boil some water.

"What are you doing?" Kiyoko asked.

"Making tea," Hiruma said bluntly. "Since when do you care what I do?"

"Since when do you drink tea?"

"Ever since it got cold at night," Hiruma answered. The teapot whistled. Hiruma turned off the stove and poured some water into one of the spare mugs by the slot machines. "Do you want some?"

"Huh?" Kiyoko responded, dumbfounded.

"Tea," Hiruma stated flatly. "Do you want any?"

"Oh," Kiyoko said, startled. "I… Okay, sure. Why are you offering me some?"

"It's fifty degrees outside, there's no heater in here, and you're wearing a short-sleeved school uniform and a skirt. You're probably freezing."

Kiyoko raised an eyebrow. Hiruma hadn't so much as looked at her since he entered the room, so how would he know what she was wearing? He plopped two tea packets into the steaming water and handed a cup over to Kiyoko. Kiyoko bowed her head slightly.

"_Arigato,_" Kiyoko thanked and watched as the water turned a light green. "Green tea?"

"How the hell should I know?" Hiruma answered. "It's Kurita's tea. Not mine."

Kiyoko nodded, taking a drink from the cup. "It's good."

"I guess so," Hiruma shrugged, sitting down at a chair by one of the slot machines. He sighed.

"You're turning red," Hiruma observed brazenly. "Why?"

Kiyoko jumped before calming herself down. "The tea is very warm…"

"You're lying," Hiruma spat out. "Well, the tea IS warm, but you're not red because of that."

Kiyoko frowned. "What makes you think that?"

Hiruma glared at Kiyoko as he took a sip of the tea. "You were blushing before I started making tea."

Kiyoko bit her tongue discreetly. Busted.

"Why are you so interested in it?" Kiyoko asked. "Do you just want something to add to your little black book?"

Hiruma looked away from Kiyoko's knowing gaze. "I'm just trying to start a conversation, damn it."

"You're not doing a very good job," Kiyoko told him.

"I figured as much."

Kiyoko took another sip of tea. "Do I have to show up tomorrow morning, too?"

"Maybe," Hiruma answered. "It depends on why you won't be here."

"Tea Ceremony is preparing for their final presentation," Kiyoko explained serenely. "I need to be there every morning until Sunday."

"You better work hard to make up for it, damn manager," Hiruma told her, taking another sip of tea.

Kiyoko sat in silence.

"Will you stop staring at the ground? It's really irritating," Hiruma instructed. Kiyoko rolled her eyes.

"Do you hate silence or something?" Kiyoko asked.

"Or something," Hiruma answered calmly before taking another sip of tea.

A/N: Yes, chapter four's title was taken from 'What You Waiting For?' by Gwen Stefani. I'm waiting for other responses! I love playing mind games with people… I'm too much like Artemis Fowl…

A/N 2: There were a lot of random little chapters like this in the original draft of Sleeping With The Television On (which was originally called The Suzuki Method, after the musical teaching technique created by Shinichi Suzuki). Most of them involved how Moto became Kiyoko without arousing suspicion. I took a lot of them out, but this one remains because I like its quaintness.

DISCLAIMER: I don't own Eyeshield 21. Woot.


	8. Chapter 8

Number Eight: I Never Thought I'd Come To This

Kiyoko waited for a perky blonde girl to finish tying the triple bow on the back of her kimono. Kiyoko looked in the mirror. Umi-chan had been right – the fake hair extension matched her hair perfectly. Her ruby red lips formed a grin as she turned to the blonde girl.

"_Domo arigato, Maureen-sama,_" Kiyoko thanked graciously. Maureen adjusted the bow that tied Kiyoko's hair extension into a ponytail.

"You're so polite, Kiyoko," Maureen told her. "You must have been taught well." Maureen adjusted the wide, red center strap on her kimono, which was crimson. Maureen smiled, her green eyes glistening. "Don't be nervous, Kiyoko. We've been doing so well. This dress practice will go fine."

"Thanks, Maureen," Kiyoko bowed. Her blue kimono rustled with the movement. "The bow is perfect." The bow and the wide center strap on Kiyoko's kimono were light blue. Kiyoko's sandals clacked with her small movement. "I think I'm going to go get a drink of water."

"We have twenty minutes until the practice starts," Maureen told her as she walked out of the room. Normally, Kiyoko would have never walked out of the tea ceremony room wearing her kimono. (She didn't want guys staring at her, perverts that they are.) But it was seven o'clock in the morning on a Friday. The school was practically deserted.

Kiyoko stopped in front of one of the water dispensers and stuck in her two hundred and fifty yen. A cup fell out of the machine, and the water began to pour into it.

Kiyoko waited for it to stop, and then took the cup and drank from it. "I have to calm down…"

"You're red again. Why?"

Kiyoko didn't have to look around to know who it was.

"I though that you had morning practice today, Hiruma," Kiyoko grimaced. She knew she was red now.

"That kimono looks good on you," Hiruma said, ignoring what Kiyoko had told him. Kiyoko blinked.

"Uh… thanks, I guess…" Kiyoko responded, startled. Hiruma's version of a compliment was usually a swift kick in the back. A verbal compliment was something that was completely out of his realm of comprehension.

"And I haven't asked you out because if you were 'with me', bad things would happen to you," Hiruma explained.

Kiyoko frowned. "I hate how you go from point A to point Z without so much as an explan – what…?"

"I know you heard me," Hiruma grumbled. "And it's true. If we were to be a couple in the traditional sense, you'd probably get killed by… well… a lot of people… my enemies, I mean…"

"I don't understand," Kiyoko mumbled to herself before turning back to Hiruma. "So you… like me?"

"You're so slow," Hiruma groaned. "Get with the program, damn manager!"

That sounded more like Hiruma.

"Sorry, I'm a bit startled right now," Kiyoko admitted cautiously. "So… you like me, and you want to be with me, but you don't want me to have to deal with the consequences of that?"

"How many times are you going to say the same thing?" Hiruma mused.

Kiyoko drained the water out of her cup before narrowing her eyes. "Okay, what's going on?"

"Nothing," Hiruma pressed. "You're unbelievable, you know that, right? Not everyone is out to get you."

"This just doesn't seem like something you'd do," Kiyoko defended herself. "Can't I be a bit suspicious?"

Hiruma rolled his eyes. "Okay, since you won't let me tell you, I guess I'll just have to show you…"

"What are you –?"

Hiruma kissed Kiyoko on the lips gently and quickly. He pulled away rapidly, a red tinge to his skin and a small, almost undetectable smirk on his face.

"Okay, now do you get it?" Hiruma asked roughly. "I need to get down to the field, and I can't spend any more time explaining myself to the likes of you."

Kiyoko smiled dumbly. "I get it… I think…"

Hiruma shook his head. "And five seconds ago you were angry… what the hell…" He turned away from Kiyoko and began to walk away. "Don't tell anybody about this, okay? It's more for your sake than mine…"

Kiyoko watched him walk away before she realized that she had been gone ten minutes and ran back to the Tea Ceremony room.

Maureen seemed a bit concerned that Kiyoko had gotten so giddy because of a cup of water, but she waved it off as hormones.

Kiyoko had calmed down considerably by the end of school. She fished 250 yen out of her jacket pocket and walked over to the broken soda machine by the football field. She stuck her yen into the machine and waited for it to give her a soda. The machine clanked oddly, but no soda fell out. Kiyoko frowned.

"Oh, come on," Kiyoko murmured, crouching down and looking up the shaft that the soda came out of. (Normally this is a stupid idea, seeing as the soda could come down and hit your head, but Kiyoko wasn't thinking about that.) Nothing but darkness. No noise emanated from the machine.

Kiyoko bit her lip, trying desperately to keep her calm, but it was no use. She kicked the machine.

"Oh come on! Do you know how much money I've given you, you piece of crap!" Kiyoko yelled, kicking the machine again.

Hiruma was walking by (actually going home at a humane hour…) and noticed Kiyoko destroying the soda machine. He frowned, walked up to the machine, and kicked it on the right side. Kiyoko looked over to Hiruma expectantly.

The machine began to whir. Kiyoko whirled around to face it. Hiruma walked away indifferently. A dull thud ensued from the machine. Kiyoko went to retrieve her coke when she noticed that two had fallen out of the machine.

Kiyoko picked up the second one and thought about what to do. She turned around.

"Hey!" Kiyoko yelled at Hiruma. "Hiruma! Two cokes fell out! Do you want one?"

Hiruma turned his head slightly to look at Kiyoko. "Sure, whatever."

Hiruma stopped to let Kiyoko catch up, and she ran after him. She reached his side, paused to catch her breath, and gave him the second coke. Kiyoko opened her own bottle and smiled.

"So that's the trick to getting a coke out of that thing," Kiyoko smiled. "I thought that it was just me."  
"Coke machines are inanimate objects," Hiruma frowned. "They don't hold grudges."

Kiyoko took a drink of coke. "Sorry about earlier. I kind of… spaced out."

"Obviously," Hiruma shrugged. "You're red AGAIN. God, you're such a freak."

"What does that make you?" Kiyoko asked pointedly. Hiruma glared at Kiyoko. She glowered at him, taking another sip of her coke.

"Hey, why are you walking this way?" Kiyoko asked suddenly. "Don't you usually go down the main street? This is my way home."

"I need to go to the convenience store," Hiruma shrugged, drinking his coke. "Why do you care?"

"It seems like you're walking me home."

"I'm not."

"But you could have taken that street we just walked past to get to Son-Son quicker. You ARE walking me home."

"You seem to be enjoying it fine. If anyone saw how excited you were now, you could pretty much kiss your life goodbye. For someone who's supposed to be keeping a secret, you sure are acting spastic."

"I'm not being spastic," Kiyoko protested spastically. "I'm just questioning why we're keeping our relationship a secret, but you walk me home anyway. Hypocrite."

"I'm not walking you home. I'm going to the convenience store. Stop being so weird."

Hiruma and Kiyoko's conversation went on like this for quite some time. Had anyone happened to chance upon them as they walked, they would have gotten the impression that those two were closer than their conversation let on.

But no one saw them. For, despite what Kiyoko might have thought, it was six o'clock by the time she got home, it was NOT a humane hour to be at school, and most everyone had left Deimon High already.

Except for Mamori, who had to investigate the stolen sink for Disciplinary Comittee. Ah, youth…

The End 

A/N: Yeah, it only took an eternity to get this up and up. I'm really sorry. It's been done for quite some time, but… well… my computer is retarded. Eheheh…

A/N 2: Since I brought it up, here are all the chapter titles and what song they're from:

'She Asks Me Why' – from the song 'Hair' (from the musical of the same name)

'Where Was My Heart?' – from the song 'I Drive Myself Crazy' (by NSYNC… I know, passé, but I still have them on my mp3… sweat drop…)

'Why Should I Care?' – from the song 'Why Should I Worry?' (from 'Oliver and Company', which is one of the best Disney movies ever made, natch)

'Scary Conversation, Shut My Eyes, Can't Find the Break' – from the song 'What You Waiting For?' (by Gwen Stefani)

'It's Kind of Crazy, But It's Nice' – from the song 'Every Lover' (by Garth Brooks – I don't know if that's the song's actual title, but I'm fairly certain it is)

'Cessa Crudel, Tanto Rigor' – from the Italian aria 'Caro Mio Ben' (which is an absolutely heartbreaking, beautiful song, and if you ever get the chance to listen to it, it's truly amazing)

'Windmill, Windmill…' – from the song 'Feel Good Inc.' (oh come on. Do I have to tell you who sings this! …It's by Gorillaz, BTW.)

'I Never Thought I'd Come To This' – from the song 'I Don't Know How To Love Him' (from the musical 'Jesus Christ Superstar'… incidentally, Jack Black recently performed in a version of it. I love his work. Hahah.)

A/N 3: Thanks to all who read this humble and somewhat crazy story. The number of positive reviews is spectacular, especially for a community that used to have only fifteen stories when I started writing. Truly a blessing.

A/N 4: Now my energy is going towards my Naruto fic, Coming to America. Please, R&R, and I'll be back!

DISCLAIMER: For the last time, you simpering fools, I don't own Eyeshield 21!


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